Wuhan–Xianning intercity railway explained

The Wuhan–Xianning intercity railway, commonly abbreviated as Wu-Xian intercity railway, is a high-speed commuter railway line in Hubei Province of China with double tracks. It connects the provincial capital Wuhan with the city of Xianning, with a number of intermediate stops throughout Wuhan's southern suburbs. The railway is part of Wuhan's commuter railway system.

The railway line is 91.56 km long, and includes 13 stations, from Wuhan's Wuchang railway station to Xianning South railway station in Xianning. Intermediate stations include Nanhu East railway station (in Wuhan's Guanggu area), several stations in Wuhan's suburban Jiangxia District and in Xianning City (Xian'an District).[1][2]

Although there are already two railway lines between Wuhan and Xianning (the Wuhan–Guangzhou high-speed railway and the older "conventional" Beijing–Guangzhou Railway), the new railway is supposed to complement them, rather than compete with them. Unlike the Wuhan–Guangzhou high-speed railway, which has no passenger stations between Wuhan and Xianning, and whose station in Xianning is somewhat out of town, the new intercity railway will serve a number of towns and township between the two city, and will have Xianning East Station in downtown Xianning. Besides, the intercity line's terminal in Wuhan (the Wuchang Station) is more convenient for most passengers than the Wuhan railway station used by the Wuhan–Guangzhou high-speed railway.[1] As to the "conventional" Beijing–Guangzhou Railway, its trains are much slower and aren't frequent, since that railway's capacity is now mainly used for freight or long distance passenger services.[1]

The travel time between Wuchang and Xianning on the intercity railway (28 min) will be only a few minutes longer than the one the Wuhan–Guangzhou high-speed railway, while the fare will be somewhat lower.[1]

The railway began operation on December 28, 2013 with 10 services each direction per day.[3]

At Tangxunhu Station, transfer is available to the Optics Valley (Guanggu) Line of Wuhan Tram.